Southern California -- this just in

Libertarian who called Obama a 'monkey' probed by Secret Service

The Secret Service is investigating threats made against President Obama on Facebook by a former libertarian city council candidate in Carson.

"We are aware of the incident and are going to conduct appropriate followup," said Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie.

In his post, Jules Manson calls Obama a a racial epithet and suggests he should be assassinated.

Manson, who ran for office on a Libertarian platform in the Carson race in March, called Obama a "monkey" in an online screed on the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act. The act has raised the ire of activists because it permits indefinite detention without trial for some terrorism suspects.

In a comment on the Facebook post, Manson added: "Assassinate the [president] and his monkey children." He used an obscenity followed by a racial epithet to describe the president. The post had been removed from Manson's Facebook page Tuesday, but the blog Your Black Politics captured and posted a screenshot of it, including the coarse language.

Manson described the comments on his Facebook page as "careless, emotionally driven remarks that had no real substance" and wrote, "Not including my regular friends whom I converse with often or have in the past and always welcome their comments and posts, I do not believe many of you are concerned citizens. Most of you were simply looking for drama to demonstrate your politically correct righteousness."

In another Facebook post, Manson said he had been visited by U.S. Secret Service agents.

Manson lost the Carson council race by a wide margin, garnering only 550 votes.